Mumbai: The National Payments Corp. of India Ltd’s (NPCI) most ambitious project, unified payments interface (UPI) system, will go live on Monday. The payments interface is expected to bring about a significant shift in the way mobile banking transactions are conducted.

Mobile banking has surged in India in recent months as banks have pushed both retail and corporate customers to adopt platforms designed to transact on the phone. In the September-December quarter, the value of mobile banking transactions surged 82% over the same period last year.

The launch of UPI could quicken its growth further. Here’s how:

1. Reduce need for e-wallets:

UPI is set to allow you to make payments using your mobile phone as the primary device without the need for you to download an app to send or receive money.

Hence, you may no longer need an e-wallet if convenience is your primary focus for using the product. Also, you will be able to use multiple e-wallets seamlessly as they will become inter-operable with UPI.

2. No need to disclose identity while making payments:

Sample this. If you want to settle your bill with the cab driver at the end of the journey, you just have to give your virtual address and the driver will request money from it. Sure, the system will check with you.

You will get a message on your mobile phone asking for authentication.

Once you authenticate the transaction by entering your password, it will be complete. This process doesn’t require you to share bank details with either the driver or the cab service provider. Also, since UPI runs on Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) platform, the service will be available real-time and 24x7.

3. Use any bank product:

UPI will make the payment system inter-operable. Hence, you will be able to use the products of any bank, even if you are not a customer, which has entered into an agreement to use the UPI platform.

4. One-click, two-factor authentication:

And finally, UPI enables a two-factor authentication in one click. So far, for a two-factor authentication, you have to click multiple times. With UPI, you will be able to do it at one click. This system will allow for a one-click, two-factor authentication on mobile phones across bank accounts.